An important imperial steatite seal
Qing dynasty, Kangxi period, 1662 - 1722
Height: 14.0cm, 9.9cm square
Masterfully carved with two intertwined dragons amid thick swirls of clouds, this important seal was almost certainly used by the Kangxi Emperor (r. 1662-1722) himself. An impression of the seal is contained in Kangxi baosou (A Collection of the Kangxi Emperor’s Seals) which was initiated in 1781 by command of his grandson, the Qianlong emperor, to record the personal seals of his forebear.
The face of the seal is carved with six characters, Kangxi yubi zhibao, which may be translated as ‘A treasure inscribed by the imperial brush of the Kangxi emperor’. The seal would have been impressed by the emperor or his representative on paintings in the imperial collection that he had viewed and considered significant.
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